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Eclipse Desktop Integration Project

Introduction

The Eclipse Desktop Integration Project is a proposed open source project under the Eclipse Technology Project.

This proposal is in the Project Proposal Phase (as defined in the Eclipse Development Process document) and is written to declare its intent and scope. This proposal is written to solicit additional participation and input from the Eclipse community. You are invited to comment on and/or join the project. Please send all feedback to the http://www.eclipse.org/newsportal/thread.php?group=eclipse.technology.desk newsgroup.

Background

Recently the industry has seen a resurgence in the use of Java technology to create desktop applications. One advantage of Java is its platform independence, which gives users the freedom to chose alternative platforms and vendors based upon their changing business needs. However, platform independence is a two-edged sword. Most users expect applications to seamlessly integrate into the desktop and the host operating system, following its user interface guidelines and conventions. This is especially true for users of business applications. For Java to gain more design wins with this audience it needs to be just as tightly integrated as a native application written in other languages like C++ or C#.

The Java platform has enabled a certain level of seamless desktop integration with functionality such as Swing look and feels, drag and drop, and clipboard support. Java Web Start comes with features to place application shortcuts into the start menu and on the desktop. Developers who want to go beyond what already exists in the standard Java platform, however, have limited choices.

Eclipse's SWT provides additional native capabilities such as a Browser widget that uses the platform browser, and a way to add icons in the system tray. This is a good start but more is needed, for example the ability to associate file types with Java applications, to launch those applications by double-clicking on files in the desktop or file explorer.

Description

To enable better native platform integration, we propose the Desktop Integration project, an open-source project hosted on eclipse.org. Its mission is to take cross-platform Java desktop integration to the next level.

The project will produce a set of cross-platform APIs that abstract the contracts between an application and the desktop it runs on. Desktop integrated applications will run on any platform that the API has been ported to and will realize the behavior associated with these contracts in a way that's suitable for each particular desktop environment.

This approach is possible because many desktop concepts are implemented across all environments. Additionally some desktop services are an enhancement to an application rather than necessary to its operation. Such features can be left unimplemented on platforms where the service is not available.

Desktop Integration is an exploratory project. While you're welcome to use it in your products, be aware that all current APIs are subject to change.

Interested Parties

Suggested Project Lead and Committers

This section captures the list of organizations that have expressed interest in the project and/or its components, and as such will be updated periodically to reflect the growing interest in this project.

We, the submitters of this proposal, welcome and encourage interested parties to post to the http://www.eclipse.org/newsportal/thread.php?group=eclipse.technology.desk newsgroup with comments, critiques, questions, and requests to be added to the list as interested parties.

Initial Committers

Ed Burnette (Project Lead)
ed.burnette at sas.com Wayne Parrott
wayne at genuitec.com Todd Williams
todd at genuitec.com Mikhail Shynaderman
mschnayd at yahoo.com Jed Anderson
jed.anderson at codenovo.com

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